The present invention relates to animal feeders, and more particularly a feature, which when incorporated in a bird or other animal feeder, simplifies the refilling procedure thereof.
Animal feeders for supplying water and other flowable animal feeds, such as seeds, pellets, nuts, etc., on an as needed basis, are known in the art. Such devices, directed to dispensing of seeds and the like, for example including many commonly available bird feeders, generally provide a storage reservoir or hopper portion for holding feed material, and at least one port or opening formed in a feed access portion of the feeder positioned below a level of the feed contents stored in the hopper to allow the animal access to the feed on demand. As feed material is withdrawn therefrom by the animal, the empty space is displaced by the contents from above within the hopper acted upon by the downward force of gravity. If the access port is small enough in relation to the size of the particulate feed material contained in the hopper, feed material does not escape through the port unless taken therefrom by the animal. Many bird feeders, having larger access ports, are additionally provided with pooling trays adjacent the port for holding a quantity of the feed material which naturally pours from the port holes. A similar configuration is adopted for water feeders, in which water is generally maintained in a water holding reservoir, and having a pooling tray for receiving a quantity of water which escapes though an opening in communication with the reservoir which is disposed below an upper lip of the tray. Such construction permits water to pour from the reservoir and fill the tray without overflowing same, by virtue of the downward force exerted by atmospheric pressure on the surface of the water in the tray. As an animal drinks from the filled tray, water from the reservoir replaces the consumed amount and maintains water in the pooling tray at a constant level just above the opening.
When the nutritive feed material or water in the hoppers or reservoirs is depleted, requiring replenishment, refilling of such devices generally requires either that feed be added through a reclosable opening disposed in at the top of the hopper while mounted, or, where the reservoir is detachable from the rest of the feeder and has a downwardly facing opening therein during mounted use, that the entire feeder be removed from the fixed object to which it is mounted, such as a tree branch from which it normally hangs during use, to allow the reservoir to be removed and inverted for refilling and subsequent reattachment to the feeder. The above refilling operations are generally time consuming, and invariably result in spilled feed material, even when a funnel is used to facilitate transfer of seed and the like from bulk storage to the feeder hopper.
There has therefore long existed the need for a feature which could simplify the refilling of an animal feeder, and which avoids the problems highlighted above.